Archive | July 2013

I am SO SUPER EXCITED about this book! Awakenings, by J.E.Shannon, was picked out for Pitch Wars by my close friend and pitch contest pal, Fiona McLaren. It’s a Pitch Wars success story as Entranced Publishing requested the manuscript in the #PitMad Twitter Party that followed the contest and then made an offer to publish. I love success stories like this!

The story concept is kick-arse: a reanimation revenge story! I get goosebumps just thinking about it. And to celebrate J.E.Shannon has awesome prizes – but you have to keep reading to find out what. So join in the party and celebrate. Make sure to let me know what you think of the book as I’m going to giveaway a copy. Just leave a comment before the end of the blog tour (include you’re email) and you’ll be in the draw.

Title: Awakenings

Author: J. E. Shannon

Publisher: Entranced Publishing

Genre: YA paranormal romance

Release Date: July 29th 2013

Blurb:

Evie Shepard awakens to a nightmare. She’s been buried alive and has no idea how or why. As she struggles to remember what happened, she beings to notice changes — heightened senses, as well as increased speed, agility, and strength. And her heart no longer beats. She soon makes a disturbing discovery: she wasn’t buried alive; she was murdered. Somehow, she has come back…and she wants revenge.

To celebrate her new release, JE Shannon is giving away a Kindle with an
ecopy of Awakenings (US only). One runner-up will win an ecopy of Awakenings
(open internationally). You can enter here.

About the Author:

J. E. Shannon currently lives in Florida, but is a Missouri native. She
spends most of her time reading, writing, and taking care of her small child
and two crazy dogs. Visit her at www.jeshannonbooks.com.

Welcome to my stop on the Entranced Summer Blog Hop! You have a chance to win a Kindle or Gift Vouchers. There’s heaps of way to enter by following or liking the participating authors. There’s also an option searching for a (no so) secret key word across all participating blogs to make a sentence. At the same time you get to discover some of the amazing authors at Entranced and their novels that will enchantyou.

So, my novel SLEEPER is out in December 2013. Mark it in your calendars as it’ll make a great Christmas present.

Mishca
Richardson’s life is at an all-time high after her heart transplant. With new boyfriend, Ryder, the two of them have
the perfect summer romance. Even the nightmares that have been plaguing her
sleep since her operation can’t dull the high she’s on.

Things
start to unravel as Mishca develops superhuman abilities. She does her best to
hide them so as not to end up a science experiment in a lab. But she can’t
ignore the instant attraction she experiences when she meets her university
professor, Colin Reed.

Torn
between the blossoming love and the obsession, Mishca must decide if she wants
Ryder or Colin. But the organization responsible for her changes and her
connection to Colin, is moving to secure Mishca for himself so that she can be
the weapon he always intended her to be. If Mishca can’t resist her programming
she’ll have a lot more to worry about than romance.

The concept for SLEEPER came to me as a ‘What if?’ scenario and wouldn’t let go. It does explore instalove, but unlike a lot of other stories the idea of love-at-first-sight isn’t a good thing. In fact, it’s quite sinister. I think that’s really what sets SLEEPER apart.

Now as well as having the chance to win a Kindle, you could get an early Christmas present if you sign up for Entranced Publishing’s Christmas in July. It’s your opportunity to win a stackload of eBooks.

The next stop on the Entranced Summer Blog Hop is my wonderful Alpha Reader Stacey Nash. Hopefully you’ve found all the other words so far. If not, then you need to go back to the beginning to Ana Blaze’s blog and collect the words.

Hey guys, so Sharon wanted me to have a chat to you about gargoyles. You see my YA urban fantasy, In Stone, was just released and it’s about gargoyles and demons. I wasn’t sure whether or not I should turn this post into a history lesson.

There are some pretty cool articles surrounding the grotesque, grey statues, but then I thought that might be a bit heavy, and my story isn’t heavy. When I was writing In Stone I decided not to focus too much on the “facts” (or preexisting ideas).

Don’t get me wrong, Jack, my gargoyle, is quite complex, and I think I managed to write him a pretty neat history, but truth be told I really wanted to avoid bringing a religious element into my story. I knew if I delved too deeply into the whys and whens and hows there’s be a good chance I’d run into some tricky questions. Not that I can’t deal with tricky questions, I’m Roman Catholic after all.

It’s just, well, if you’ve read In Stone you’ll know that I like funny, and I felt that bringing religion into it would darken the tone. I also know that when you;re writing for a demographic that can be quite impressionable, you have to handle things a certain way, and I didn’t feel confident enough to pull off a religious discussion.

I am that girl that’s always making inappropriate jokes at parties. Obviously I decided to focus on the snippet of mythology that said gargoyles scare off demons, rather than the stories that say gargoyles are simply waterspouts — cause where’s the fun in waterspouts?

One Sunday morning during mass, my Nanna happened to mention that these gross-looking stone creatures were made that way to deter demons. At the time it was just one of those cool stories about monsters that grownups tell you, and you know, when you sit through mass three times a week hearing grim stories is pretty standard. I didn’t real give it much thought, up until I started submitting an angel and demon story.

My manuscript was getting lost in a sea of trends and I was in desperate need of some fantasy/paranormal protagonist that was a little more elusive in the current market. I was brainstorming unusual beasties with my CP at the same time my sister was reading an amazing book called The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson (heads up: this is an adult book and there is some sexual content).

We were having a discussion about the plot. Suddenly the idea of gargoyles hit me smack in the face obvious. I hit Google images hard and was confronted by hideous pictures of these things. Of course they have to look gross because that’s what deters the demons, but I’m thinking, how can I twist this idea so this guy can walk around in broad daylight without attracting attention?I needed to create my own myth and back story to make it work.

I’m not a plotter, I just tended to dump Jack in situations and let him find his own way out. He was pretty good at guiding the story and providing me with roots to his past. Of course he does have some classic gargoyle identifiers. He lives above a church door and when he’s in stone (ba dum tsp), Beau describes him as a cow-pig-snake hybrid, but I was aiming for an original take on an old myth and I think – hope – I pulled it off.

Title: In Stone

Author: Louise D. Gornall

Genre: YA paranormal romance.

Blurb:

Beau Bailey is suffering from a post-break-up meltdown when she happens across a knife in her local park and takes it home. Less than a week later, the new boy at school has her trapped in an alley; he’s spouted horns and is going to kill Beau unless she hands over the knife. Until Eighteenth-century gargoyle, Jack, shows up to save her.

Jack has woken from a century-long slumber to tell Beau that she’s unwittingly been drafted into a power struggle between two immortal races: Demons and Gargoyles. The knife is the only one in existence capable of killing immortals and they’ll tear the world apart to get it.

To draw the warring immortals away from her home, Beau goes with Jack in search of the mind-bending realm, known as the Underworld, a place where they’ll hopefully be able to destroy the knife and prevent all hell from breaking loose. That is, provided they can outrun the demons chasing them.

Louise is a graduate of Garstang Community Academy. She is currently studying a BA (Hons) in English language and literature with a special emphasis on creative writing. YA aficionado. Brit Bird. Film Nerd. Identical twin. Junk food enthusiast. Rumoured pink Power Ranger. Zombie apocalypse 2012 survivor. She is also an avid collector of book boyfriends.

I’m so excited to be part of of the cover reveal for Wendy Higgins’ SEE ME. I beta read this book and I absolutely adore it. It’s my favourite story of Wendy’s to date. It’s not your typical YA, but it’s refreshing with a new take on YA with Romance and Magical Realism and a dash of Fantasy blended together.

About the book

While most seventeen-year-old American girls would refuse to let their parents marry them off to a stranger, Robyn Mason dreams of the mysterious McKale in Ireland, wondering how he’ll look and imagining his cute Irish accent. Prearranged bindings are common for magical families like her own, however when she travels to the whimsical Emerald Isle she discovers there’s more to her betrothal and McKale’s clan than she could have imagined.

What starts as an obligatory pairing between Robyn and McKale morphs over time into something they both need. But one giant obstacle stands the way of their budding romance: a seductive and deadly Fae princess accustomed to getting what she wants—and what she wants is McKale as her plaything. Love, desire, and jealousies collide as Robyn’s family and McKale’s clan must work together to outsmart the powerful Faeries and preserve the only hope left for their people.

SEE ME will be available October 1st, 2013 via ebook from Amazon, B&N, and Kobo for $3.99, and paperback will be for sale through Amazon and Createspace for $10.99. It will not be available for preorder. This book is being self-published by the author and her agent.

BECOMING JOSEPHINE is Heather Webb’s debut historical about Napoleon’s empress, a woman in search of eternal love and stability, and ultimately her search for self. It releases December 31, 2013 from Plume/Penguin.

Stop by her blog Between the Sheets and leave a comment for a chance to win a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble or a $20 gift card to Amazon. Pre-order her novel (present a receipt) and win a Josephine hand mirror with a velvet bag.

Rose Tascher sails from her Martinique plantation to Paris to trade her Creole black magic culture for love and adventure. She arrives exultant to follow her dreams of attending Court with Alexandre, her elegant aristocrat and soldier husband. But Alexandre dashes her hopes and abandons her amid the tumult of the French Revolution.

Through her savoir faire, Rose secures her footing in high society, revelling in handsome men and glitzy balls—until the heads of her friends begin to roll.

After narrowly escaping death in the blood-drenched cells of Les Carmes prison, she reinvents herself as Josephine, a socialite of status and power. Yet her youth is fading, and Josephine must choose between a precarious independence and the love of an awkward suitor. Little does she know, he would become the most powerful man of his century- Napoleon Bonaparte.

BECOMING JOSEPHINE is a novel of one woman’s journey to find eternal love and stability, and ultimately to find herself.

ADVANCE PRAISE

Becoming Josephine has already been featured in a Wall Street Journal piece on the popularity

of historical fiction featuring the wives of famous men.

“Heather Webb’s epic novel captivates from its opening in a turbulent plantation society in the Caribbean, to the dramatic rise of one of France’s most fascinating women: Josephine Bonaparte. Perfectly balancing history and story, character and setting, detail and pathos, Becoming Josephine marks a debut as bewitching as its protagonist.” –Erika Robuck, author of Hemingway’s Girl

“With vivid characters and rich historical detail, Heather Webb has portrayed in Josephine a true heroine of great heart, admirable strength, and inspiring courage whose quest is that of women everywhere: to find, and claim, oneself.” –Sherry Jones, bestselling author of The Jewel of the Medina

“Josephine’s warmth and complexity comes to vibrant life in this fascinating novel rich with vivid historical detail.”—Teresa Grant, Author of THE PARIS AFFAIR

“Vivid and passionate, Becoming Josephine captures the fiery spirit of the woman who stole Napoleon’s heart and enchanted an empire. –Susan Spann, author of The Shinobi Mysteries

“A fast-paced, riveting journey, Becoming Josephine captures the volatile mood of one of the most intense periods of history—libertine France, Caribbean slave revolts, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars—from the point of a view of one of its key witnesses, Josephine Bonaparte.” –Dana Gynther, author of Crossing on the Paris

“Spellbinding . . . Heather Webb’s novel takes us behind the mask of the Josephine we thought we knew.” –Christy English, author of How to Tame a Willful Wife and To Be Queen

“Enchanting prose takes the reader on an unforgettable journey . . . Captivating young Rose springs from the lush beauty of her family’s sugar plantation in Martinique to shine in the eighteenth century elegance of Parisian salon society. When France is torn by revolution, not even the blood-bathed terror of imprisonment can break her spirit.” –Marci Jefferson, author of Girl on the Gold Coin, Thomas Dunne Books,2014

As the heiress to Titon
Technologies, eighteen-year-old Aurora Titon can have whatever she
wants—clothes, expensive gadgets, anything money can buy. All she really wants
is to escape her pampered, paparazzi-prone life for the stars. Becoming the
first female pilot to train as an astronaut for the Apollo Academy is exactly
the chance for which she has been waiting. Everything would be perfect if it
weren’t for her unreciprocated crush on a fellow student, the sexy astronaut
bent on making her life hell, and the fact that someone keeps trying to kill
her.

The first in a four book new
adult science fiction series, The Apollo Academy, is an action packed story of
love, discovery, and survival.

Early
praise for The Apollo Academy:

“I am obsessed with this
book! Suspenseful, sexy, and just a great read!”

Kimberly P. Chase holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Science
from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, which basically means she’s kind of
a geek and loves flying airplanes. Naturally, her books tend to include
aviation, hot flight instructors, aviator glasses, and—let’s not
forget—kissing! When Kimberly’s not writing or reading, she’s hanging out with
her husband, four-year-old son, and two dogs.

8 AM: Mornings should be banned. Also, someone needs to invent a way to consume coffee before I wake up. Can we get someone on that?

9 AM: Grab coffee from The Hill, head to Atticus’ place.

10 AM: Start working—try to ignore the fact that my boss is still scruffy and half asleep and looks good enough to eat. Transcribe some notes.

11:30 AM: Argue with Atticus about lunch. Pretend he’s not quite as hot as he is. Go get lunch with Atti and bring it back to the office.

1:00 PM: Make some phone calls, transcribe. Find coffee. Work on graduate applications.

5:00 Find a reason to work late.

6:00 Drag myself home and make dinner. Talk to Amelia about the wedding.

9:00 Text Atti. Work on graduate school applications.

11:00 Watch a movie with Atticus, fall asleep smiling.

About the Book:

She wants a summer job and a ride to a wedding. He wants an assistant and a distraction from the mess life his had become.They didn’t know they needed each other.

Avery Emili needs two grand. Two grand and a plane ticket–her sister is counting on her to get to Jamaica for her wedding. But the semester is over, and tutoring college freshman and high school students has dried up until the fall.Atticus Grimes needs help–the messy split with his wife left the twenty-eight year old professor scrambling to keep things together as the semester winds down. Now he’s got a research grant he has to actually do research for and all he wants to do is drown himself in a tall bottle of bourbon.When Avery sees his ad for an assistant, all she’s thinking is a summer job. But as they spend time together, in the office and out, both of them begin to realize something is there. Something that can’t happen–he’s a professor and she’s a student. And both of them have histories, pasts that won’t let go. Can two broken people pulled apart by expectations find a way to be whole?

Nazarea Andrews is an avid reader and tends to write the stories she wants to read. She loves chocolate and coffee almost as much as she loves books, but not quite as much as she loves her kids. She lives in south Georgia with her husband, daughters, and overgrown dog

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Heather M Bryant

One day I'll be published. One day I'll have a book with my name on the cover. One day I'll own a purple unicorn. Until that day I'm a twenty-something hopeful with an addiction to coffee and anything that makes me smile.

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E.L. Wicker

Obsessive reader and writer of New Adult fiction. Lover of all things green and leafy, as long as I don't have to eat them. Author of The Bearwood Series.